Review of Blues Rock: The Ultimate Anthology

Introduction

Oh god no! It`s another "Ultimate Anthology" with various bits of footage from across the years that probably didn`t cost a lot in copyright clearance fees. This time it`s the Ultimate Anthology of Blues Rock. Not by my reckoning, but then I don`t have to pay big copyright fees. If I did then I might come up with this rag tag bunch of tracks, but I`d rather find some good blues rock instead.

Free - Mr. Big
Moody Blues - Blue Guitar
Jack Bruce - Sunshine of Your Love
Ian Gillan - When a Blind Man Cries
Wishbone Ash - Almighty Blues
Lawton Dunning Project - Still Paying my Dues to the Blues
Dr Feelgood - Milk and Alcohol
Status Quo - Road House Blues
Nektar - Desolation Valley
Uriah Heep - I`ll Keep on Trying
Rory Gallagher - Could`ve had Religion
Robin Trower - Night of the Guitars
Budgie - I Ain`t no Mountain
Alex Harvey Band - Bar Room Blues
John Lawton - Dog House
Thin Lizzy - The Sun Goes Down

Video

We get a full frame picture for each track, almost all of which just look like standard video footage from the various decades covered. As with most of the "Ultimate Anthology" DVDs, visually it`s nothing to write home about, just various different sets of blokes (and a few ladies) on stage looking like a stereotypical 1970s/1980s naff rock band. Not even the Quo look good here.

Audio

A choice of DD5.1 and dts soundtracks. If you select either one of the two 5.1 versions, they both sound like average remix jobs which mostly use the front three channels. There`s not much audience in the mix, and some of the instruments could have been a bit better placed too. On the whole these are ok soundtracks, but nothing special.

Features

Not a thing.

Conclusion

Like many music discs, this one would usually be for fans only. But I couldn`t think of anyone who would want to listen to just one track by each of these bands. And if they could, it`s very unlikely that they would pick the exact tracks that are listed here, as only Sunshine of Your Love is well known, and the version here is awful. I won`t be rushing back to listen to it again. In fact it will probably never go near my DVD players again.

The picture quality is average, but the sound is what you`re after with a music DVD. The various different soundtracks are not bad (and they do put a disclaimer on the box about not getting your hopes up given the age of the source material etc.) But at the end of the day I just can`t see who this would appeal to.

Not really recommended for anyone.